Soccer betting tips and predictions

With the emergence this season of a ‘Big Five’ we could be in for the most competitive FA Cup in recent years. With 6/1 joint favourites at the moment all the teams have decent FA Cup 2011 Odds and this competitiveness could breathe new life into the competition, which some think has lost its sparkle.

The FA Cup has most often been won by a team from the traditional ‘Big Four’, since the Premiership began in 1992 there have been eighteen FA Cups finals, either Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea have won an amazing sixteen of those, with only Everton and Portsmouth breaking the top four dominance of the FA Cup.

Perhaps this year we are best off considering the new ‘Big Five, which consists of Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. It is no surprise that these are the five favourites to win the FA Cup, going into the third round of the cup you can get around 6/1 with the bookies on Man Utd and Chelsea, who are the current joint favourites in the FA Cup 2011 Betting.

Man City are next best at around the 7/1 mark and they could prove the best bet out of all the teams. They have a huge squad which can cope with the extra games and perhaps more importantly, they are very tough to beat, especially away from home, so they will fear no one. Mancini will also be desperate to bring in some silverware so Man City are going to be a huge threat to all teams.

Arsenal are best priced 8/1 at the time of writing, they may be vulnerable in this year’s competition with the Premier League a priority whilst Tottenham could go close, a team with a great FA Cup tradition and a big squad could gain their first FA Cup win since 1991, they are 10/1 to do so and have a comfortable third round draw at home to Charlton.

After the big five it is 14/1 the field, Everton are deemed sixth favourites, they are ahead of Liverpool who would be much shorter if they hadn’t drawn Man Utd at Old Trafford on Sunday. With many Premiership teams showing poor away form this season, it should pay to go with teams that have a strong record home and away, and that means backing the big five.

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Avram Grant may have succeeded in achieving his short term aim of gaining a win over Christmas, but the bookies still think he will be the Next Premiership manager to lose his job.

Grant beat Fulham and also gained draws against Blackburn and Everton to relieve the pressure on his job at Upton Park, he must have at least bought himself another month as West Ham manager with a run of three games without loss. Now just two points off the relegation zone, another win for West Ham in the next couple of weeks should see his job become even safer, he is still the favourite to be next out though and is just 6/4 with the bookies at the moment.

The best backed manager to be out of a job soon though is Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier. He has managed just three league wins since his appointment and Villa are now just one point above the relegation zone. It would be no surprise to see Villa cut their losses sooner rather than later, especially with Houllier falling out with players such as Richard Dunne, Houllier is now just 4/1 to be next manager out and those odds are still falling.

Carlo Ancelotti is also a surprise candidate to leave Chelsea soon, his relationship with Abramovich looks to be strained so he could walk away whilst he could also be sacked if Chelsea lose touch with the top four, you wouldn’t have believed it six weeks ago when Chelsea looked invincible but Ancelotti is now third favourite in the sack race at around 5/1.

It seems there are several managers under pressure at the moment, Roy Hodgson was favourite but he is now sixth favourite with so many other managers on the brink, Mark Hughes and Mick McCarthy are also believed to be under a lot of pressure but both should be given more time.

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After the shock sackings in the past couple of weeks of Chris Hughton from Newcastle and Sam Allardyce from Blackburn it is worth taking a look at who the bookies think will be the Next Premiership Manager To Leave His Post.

Both the sackings seemed to come from out of the blue but the bookies seemed to be in the know about both which adds extra significance to their current odds, it looks as though two managers are seriously battling for their future over the Christmas period.

The hot favourite to be the next manager out is Avram Grant, who is in charge of bottom placed West Ham. Avram Grant is odds on with all the bookies who are offering odds on the next manager out and what is perhaps still keeping him in a job is the fact that West Ham are only four points off safety. As soon as that gap begins to get bigger David Gold and David Sullivan are going to have to think seriously about Grant’s future, with reports this week suggesting they are already lining up Big Sam to replace Grant.

The other manager who still seems to be in serious trouble is Roy Hodgson. We have seen this week with Sam Allardyce’s sacking that new owners often look to get rid of managers appointed by the previous owners and although Hodgson has been given some time, unless he starts picking up more wins away from home he could be out of work in the new year. He is the clear second favourite to be next out at around 4/1.

There is a bit of a gap back to Mick McCarthy, whose Wolves team have lost plenty of games this season but haven’t been that bad, he should be given at least the season. Big names in trouble include Carlo Ancelotti and Gerard Houllier, both of whom are around the 12/1 mark to be the next manager out. Ancelotti is reportedly not getting on so well with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich whilst Houllier hasn’t endeared himself to fans or players apparently after a slow start and his Anfield antics recently, it seems several managers could be leaving their clubs pretty soon.

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